Graydon founded Coghlan Financial Group, Inc. in March 2002 and extended financial planning and risk management services to California retirees. His business philosophy emphasizes on the importance of building and maintaining a solid relationship with his clients. Over the years Graydon and his firm have upheld this philosophy by providing quality customer service and recognizing the individual needs of each client. Their personal approach to understanding clients’ needs and concerns has given them the unique edge in retirement planning.

Graydon has developed excellent relationships with Communications Workers of America union locals throughout California. As a result of word-of-mouth among presidents of the CWA locals, he and his firm have been invited to provide information and services to members throughout the state. Graydon’s close ties with CWA have fostered his expansion and a growing understanding on how to maximize their 401(k)-type plans and pension plans among working people and helping them prepare for retirement. Today, Coghlan Financial Group, Inc. has ten different locations statewide with its main branch in San Diego, California.

Graydon’s decision to leave the wirehouse environment and start his own firm stemmed from the desire to shift his business model from commission-based to fee-based. “As I see it, it’s the proper way to do business,” he explains. He wanted the flexibility to offer non-proprietary instruments and to be able to serve his clients offering health, life and long-term care insurance, as well as reverse mortgages and even estate planning. Thus he decided to join Securities America, Inc., one of the nation’s largest and most progressive independent broker/dealers. While Coghlan Financial Group, Inc. is currently referring out Living Trust work, Graydon is actively looking to hire an in-house attorney so that they can provide full service retirement planning.

One of the firm’s greatest competitive advantages is their proprietary Retirement Planning Review (RPR). The objective of this service is to illustrate their suggested scenario for receipt of 401(k), Pension and other retirement plans, and to provide an idea of their unique investment philosophy. Since everyone's variables are strikingly different, the Retirement Planning Review is constructed by hand and specifically tailored to each individual’s retirement plan distributions. Graydon regularly hosts seminars aimed to educate workers on how to properly plan for retirement and offers all attendees complimentary RPRs with no obligation. Each seminar is intended for employees of a specific company and those who seek the RPR service each receive a 35-page report that addresses the specifics of a given company’s retirement plan, after completing a brief, but tailored questionnaire.

Along with the many complimentary services offered by Coghlan Financial Group, Inc. their Asset Allocation Analysis analyzes each individual’s current investment portfolio. This service provides a comprehensive review by comparing current investment holdings to their suggested allocation based on factors such as investment objectives, time horizon, risk tolerance and needs for income.

While working with retirees from local companies has been the foundation of his business, referrals from these clients are serving to create a growing group of clients who are unaffiliated with either the companies or the unions. Graydon credits these referrals to the level of service provided by everyone in the firm. Clients know that they can reach someone 6 days a week and that their calls will be returned within 1 hour. A robust client contact system enables everyone in the firm to have immediate access to a client’s record so anyone who takes a call from a client can provide support. Because of their high level of service, they have built relationships with family members of many of their clients – and few families leave when the original client passes.

Coghlan Financial Group, Inc. hosts many retirement planning seminars each year including two large client appreciation events. There were a large amount of attendees at the last event, a sit-down dinner with several industry guest speakers to talk about investment strategies. Clients are encouraged to bring guests to these events and almost 25% of attendees were friends of clients.

A San Diego native, Graydon is an active supporter of his community, especially when it comes to causes that are close to home. As a boy, his family had close friends who were deeply involved with the California Highway Patrol 11-99 Foundation; Graydon carried on his family’s tradition of supporting the organization, which provides assistance to CHP employees and their families. Having a nephew with epilepsy prompted Graydon to support TERI, Inc. – Training Education and Research Institute, which works to improve the quality of life for children and adults with developmental needs that are not being met by other existing programs. Another sponsored organization is Voices for Children, which finds safe and permanent homes for abused, neglected and abandoned children who are dependents of the San Diego County Court.

Graydon is a San Diego-native and has lived in the city his entire life. He attended San Diego State University where he studied Finance and Economics. He holds the Series 7: NASD General Securities Representative, Series 63: NASAA Uniform Securities Agent State Law Examination, Series 65: NASAA Uniform Investment Advisor Law Examination and is a licensed insurance agent in the state of California (CA Insurance License #0B31440). He also holds the Chartered Retirement Planning Counselor (CRPC) designation from the College for Financial Planning. He currently lives in La Jolla and enjoys biking, golfing, boating, tennis, and exercising. His mother, Shirley also works at Coghlan Financial Group, Inc. helping with the family business, sister, Denise and her family lives in Poway, brother, Chris also works in the same industry in San Francisco.